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READ ABOUT: Culture and Family Activities & 12 Secrets of Athens
Hotel Grande Bretagne & King George - Concierge Services
CULTURE Badminton Theatre
CULTURE
This summer Ancient Drama finds a new home, a window to the world at Badminton Theater. Aspiring to approach the unequivocal material of ancient Greek dramaturgy, Badminton Theater presents Euripides Electra from June 12 through September 26, 2015.
Ancient Drama, a milestone of Greek cultural heritage, now has a permanent home during summer months. Together with the local community, visitors from all over the world will have the opportunity to absorb the tradition of Ancient Drama with performances in the heart of Athens. The demand for a traditional production of high aesthetic value and quality to highlight Greek heritage to the wide audience of visitors to Athens during summer period has now been met with the “Ancient Drama Cycle� at Badminton Theater. It is a rare opportunity for both Greek and international audiences to experience Ancient Greek theater; the myths, the history, the ideals and the spirit of the cradle of civilization of Ancient Greece. Enhanced by translation titles and a program available in several foreign languages, Euripides Electra will be presented in the Greek language. This summer join Badminton Theater as it embraces Ancient Drama, the quintessence of world theatre. The Badminton Theatre >
Badminton Theater presents Euripides Electra from June 12 through September 26, 2015.
Elliniko Theatro Elliniko Theatro is an international performing arts organization based in New York and Athens. Since its inception in 1979, it has sought to serve as an innovative carrier of cultural diplomacy, expanding the temporal, spatial and social boundaries of Hellenic Theatre.
CULTURE
Elliniko Theatro is an international performing arts organization based in New York and Athens. Since its inception in 1979, it has sought to bring classical, medieval and contemporary Greek literature and drama to theatres, festivals, schools, universities and communities around the world. Minimal sets and casts, and bi-lingual productions—often enhanced by surtitles in
several languages—, along with post-performance discussions and seminars, render the work globally accessible and attractive to a wide range of hosts, audiences and sponsors.
Explore Elliniko Theatro >
Athens & Epidaurus Festival 2015
CULTURE
What is the Athens Festival? A great celebration that has lasted 56 summers, and that has hosted some of the leading lights of theatre, music and dance. From Mitropoulos and Callas to Rostropovich, Pavarotti, Leonidas Kavakos and Dimitris Sgouros. Above all, however, it is a venture with an eventful past often clouded by events in Greece’s recent history. A venture that, over the last two years, has taken on a youthful vitality, and openness. Until 2005, Hellenic Festival events were staged at the following venues: the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the two ancient theatres at Epidaurus (at the Sanctuary of Asclepius, and at the ancient city), and the Lycabettus Theatre. In 1955, when George Rallis was Minister of the Presidency in the government of Alexander Papagos, the decision was taken to organise a high arts festival in Athens. To this end, the renowned theatre director Dinos Giannopoulos was invited over from America, and was in effect given the
complete freedom to found and organise the Athens Festival as he saw fit. The Festival programme included theatre and music performances, all of which were held at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. The highlight of the inauguratory year was the appearance in Athens of the great New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Dimitris Mitropoulos. Explore the Athens & Epidaurus Festival 2015 >
Open-air Cinemas Do not miss the opportunity to spend an evening in true summer Athenian style in one of the numerous summer open-air cinemas.
Most of them are small gardens in their own right, with jasmine trees and bougainvilleas all around, a real treat for those sultry summer nights.
Open air cinemas used to replay winter movies but their new-found popularity during the last few years has resulted in many of them screening new films.
Cine Paris - Plaka
Cine Psirri Cine Dexameni Aigli Vox Cine Paris Thission
Cine Thission - Thissio
CULTURE
Together with your chosen movie, you can enjoy food, drinks and, of course, cigarettes, making for a completely different cinema experience.
The best open-air cinemas around the centre of Athens, each with their own distinctive character, are:
FAMILIES Children’s Art Museum - Plaka
FA MILIES
The Museum of Greek Children’s Art is a pioneering Museum, one of the very few worldwide that exhibits exclusively drawings and three dimensional artworks created by children 5 to 14 years old.
The Museum’s principals are to promote the value and uniqueness of children’s art and more so to: • Preserve, study and present children’s Art • Develop children’s aesthetics and creativity • Organize educational and art activities • Organize Children’s Art Contests Monday: Closed | Tuesday-Saturday: 10.00 - 14.00 | Sunday: 11.00 - 14.00 9 Kodrou str, extension Voulis str., Plaka, 105 58 Athens T: +30 210 3312 621 & +30 210 33 12 750
• Host temporary exhibitions of Children’s Art • Exchange exhibitions with other Museums, Foundations and relevant Institutions in Greece and abroad. 7.000 drawings and three dimensional artworks created by children 5 to 14 years old.
The Museum >
Allou! Fun Park Allou! Fun Park showcases two amusement parks, Allou! and Kidom, which operate throughout the year and are the most popular place for children and young people of all ages.
FA MILIES
This is the ideal place for those who wish to combine playing, food and stroll and all these within a beautiful park filled with trees and totally secured. Allou! Fun Park has been awarded by TĂœV Hellas for its secure measures guaranteed on all games through tactical controls of correct and secure operation. The Kidom Park includes the following: the Carousel, Bongo, Toto express, Mini Big Apple and many more games that pleasantly
Kifisou Avenue & Petrou Ralli Agios Ioannis Rentis, Athens, Greece, 18233 T: +30 210 8092 888
await their little visitors. The Allou! Park includes a selection of fun rides such as the Big Apple, Crazy Mouse and Pirat, which may offer joy and laughter to people of all ages. The excitement continues with The House of Fear whereas for those who wish to test their luck and their strength there are the capabilities’ games that gracefully award their winners with amazing gifts! For the risky ones, there are the adrenaline games such as: Shock Tower, 4G and 6G!
The Park >
Foundation of the Hellenic World FHW’s mission is the preservation and dissemination of Hellenic history and tradition, the creation of an awareness of the universal dimension of Hellenism and the promotion of its contribution to cultural evolution.
FA MILIES
Hellenic Cosmos, FHW’s Cultural Centre, was inaugurated in 1998, originally occupying a site of 16,000m². The study of Hellenic culture and history is one of the main fields of activity of the Foundation. The “Tholos” is the Foundation’s new dome-shaped Virtual Reality “Theatre” with a capacity of 130 people. It is a building of exceptional architectural design and with unique technological infrastructure, which hosts FHW’s digital collections. The “Tholos” resembles a planetarium regarding its natural and morphological characteristics.
Cultural Center “Hellenic Cosmos”: 254 Pireos st., 177 78 Tavros, Poulopoulou 38, 118 51 Athens T: +30 212 254 5000
The Foundation >
B & M Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music The B & M Theocharakis Foundation is primarily concerned with music and the fine arts in Greece and internationally, with a focus on the emergence of the Modern and its continued development over the 20th and into the 21st century.
The Foundation aims to encourage the public to enter into a wide-ranging and interdisciplinary dialogue with music and the visual arts. Theocharakis Foundation showcases a selection of educational programmes for children, such as: Exploring All Arts (for ages 2-4)
The Painters’ Gardens (for ages 6-12)
Closed during 1-25 August 9 Vassilisis Sofias str. & 1 Merlin str., 106 71, Αthens T: +30 210 3611 206
The Foundation >
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ARKKI School of Architecture for Children (for ages 6-13)
Monday: 10:00-18:00 | Tuesday: 10:00-18:00 | Wednesday: 10:00-18:00 | Thursday: 10:00-20:00 (July-August: 10:00-18:00) | Friday: 10:00-18:00 | Saturday: 10:00-18:00 | Sunday: 10:00-18:00
Planetarium (Eugenides Foundation)
FA MILIES
For a ride to the stars, Athens boasts the world’s largest and most technologically advanced digital planetarium.
The 280-seat planetarium, with a 950-sq-metre hemispherical dome, offers 3D virtual trips to the galaxy, as well as IMAX movies and other high-tech shows. There is simultaneous narration in English.
The New Digital Planetarium is a scientific centre with the important mission of communicating the achievements in science to the general public and to enlighten people about the nature of scientific research and technology.
The planetarium is part of the Eugenides Foundation, a progressive scientific and educational institution. This is home to the largest and, by general acclaim, most advanced digital 3-D 360 degrees Planetarium in the world,
Moreover, it combines all the creative and technical capabilities of modern audiovisual media and technology to relate the history of science in a fascinating way.
387 Syngrou Avenue – 175 64 P. Faliro T: +30 210 946 9600
The Planetarium >
Attica Park – Zoological Park The Attica Zoological Park, a self-funded creation, extends to a total area of 20 hectares, hosting more than 2000 animals from 350 different species.
FA MILIES
It opened in May 2000, initially as a Bird Park, hosting the 3rd largest bird collection in the world (1100 birds from 300 different species), farm animals for the younger visitors and 3 very impressive walk-in aviaries – miniatures of the 3 continents – in which visitors can walk and admire the relevant bird fauna and flora. In April 2001, when the “World of Reptiles” was added to the Attica Zoological Park, constant expansions and additions began including the “Greek Fauna” section, with animals rarely seen in Greece (summer 2002), the “African Savannah” with animals from Africa (February 2003), the monkeys and apes section (June 2003), the completion of the “Big Cats” section and the Operating daily from 9:00 am until sunset. At. Yalou, Spata 19004 T: +30 210 6634 725 & +30 210 6634 724
extension of the African Savannah (December 2004), the “Monkey Forest”, where visitors can be in the same enclosure with the monkeys (early 2005), the “Cheetah Land”, where 4 Cheetahs are kept in a large enclosure which visitors can cross through a special corridor, the chimpanzees and gibbons section (March 2008) and finally the “Arid Lands” section hosting animals such as camels, Somali wild asses, etc. (April 2008). Future plans include the expansion of the facilities with “Dinosavropolis”, an Evolution Museum with an emphasis on the Age of the Dinosaurs, as well as “Okeanopolis”, an Aquarium of international stature.
The Attica Park >
12 Secrets of Athens The Luxury Collection Concierges of the Hotel Grande Bretagne and King George, uncover 12 indigenous treasures of Athens. 12 secrets of the historic Greek capital, to be explored by global travelers, seeking unique and enriching experiences.
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
AERIDES (TOWER OF THE WINDS) The oldest weather station of the world that also functioned as a “horologion� a structure for calculating time by the position of the sun or through the use of a water clock (clepsydra) when the sun was not shining - was crafted using marble from Mount Penteli and erected around 47 B.C. Still standing at the slopes of the Acropolis, east of the Roman Agora, it is a 12 meter - tall octagonal structure, with figures of the wind deities depicted on each side.
FILOPAPPOU HILL Standing opposite the Acropolis Rock, Filopappou Hill is worth a walk up to observe the vivid colors of the Athenian sky during sunset. Take a stroll on Ash Monday, the 23rd of February this year, and you may be lucky enough to be part of the events taking place on the hill.
GAZI
Cine Thissio, the oldest open-air cinema of the city and one of the 10 best cinemas of the world as per CNN Travel,
The place-to-be on a Saturday night, an old gas factory that provided Athens with gas lighting over 150 years ago, now turned into one of the most popular cultural hubs of the city.
offers traditional Greek delicacies to savor while watching the latest film release under the illuminated Parthenon.
The square comes alive late evening until the early hours of the morning.
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
CINE THISSIO
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
VOULIAGMENI LAKE
ATHENS – SOUNIO ROUTE
A natural wonder only a few kilometers drive from the city center, with waters emerging from underground springs and the nearby sea.
Take a ride down the Athenian Riviera and head from the center of the city towards Cape Sounio, alongside the majestic coastline and the blue sea.
A labyrinthine 3.000 meter long underwater cave and the largest underground tunnel in the world underline the lake’s uniqueness. This resort – like lake offers the chance to enjoy the sunset along with a refreshing cocktail, a light meal or a dessert after swimming in the lake’s thermal therapeutic waters.
Indulge in a variety of activities on the way, from swimming and savoring seafood delicacies, to exploring the Greek history among the ruins of the ancient temple of Poseidon.
AEGINA An island getaway only 35 minutes by boat from Piraeus, with sandy beaches, traditional taverns and cozy bars. Visitors are delighted by the vibrant self-contained fishing community that has managed to retain its island customs and authentic flavor. The Aegina Fistiki Festival in September pays homage to the famous island pistachio and offers culinary, cultural and authentic experiences that should not be missed.
THE PNYX This is the birthplace of democracy, located close to the Acropolis, where the Assembly of the Athenians gathered to take collective decisions. Theodoros Kolokotronis, a general and national hero for fighting against the Ottoman Empire, addressed his speech to students and citizens of Athens here in October 1838.
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
FIRST CEMETERY OF ATHENS
While visiting Athens, make some time for the National Observatory of Athens, located on the hill of the Nymphs and designed by renowned Danish architect Theophilus Hansen.
Located in the area of Mets, the cemetery holds some of the most important works of modern Greek sculptors honoring political, cultural and literary personalities of Greece.
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
NATIONAL OBSERVATORY OF ATHENS
Hansen also designed the original building of the Hotel Grande Bretagne back in 19th century. The Observatory is built facing the Acropolis and aligned with one of the best preserved astronomical observatories, the Tower of the Winds.
The most renowned sculpture is the Sleeping Maiden by Giannoulis Chalepas, while former Culture Minister Melina Merkouri and revolutionary leader Theodoros Kolokotronis also rest here.
VARVAKIOS MARKET
This favorite spot of locals and visitors boasts superb views and a sense of tranquility amidst the sprawling Athenian landscape.
Constructed between 1878 and 1886 and named after Ioannis Varvakis, a national benefactor and hero, it is located on Athinas street.
Daring travelers may ascend the hill on foot. The funicular is an easier alternative. A great opportunity for a romantic walk with the spectacular view of the city once the sun has set.
Hundreds of Athenians buy their fresh meat and fish, cheese, herbs, fruits and vegetables here. Small interesting taverns are also hidden here, where one can taste indigenous delicacies.
12 SECRETS OF ATHENS
LYCABETTUS HILL VIEW
HOTEL GRANDE BRETAGNE A LUXURY COLLECTION HOTEL, ATHENS
+30 210 3330 000 telephone +30 210 3228 034 fax KING GEORGE A LUXURY COLLECTION HOTEL, ATHENS
+30 210 3222 210 telephone +30 210 3228 034 fax
SYNTAGMA SQUARE 105 64, ATHENS, GREECE
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